How to train for Power? | Cricket Training with Chinmoy Roy

Till 1990’s batsmen in the longer version of the game were judged by their durability, the length of the time they spent in the crease. Hanif Mohammad, Ken Barrington, Geoffrey Boycott and Sunil Gavaskar used to play marathon innings and would wear the bowlers down by stonewalling.

There’s a distinct paradigm shift post T-20 world cup in 2007. In modern era it’s runs scored in number of balls faced that draws more scrutiny. Those silken touches of David Gower have given way to the brutal force of Chris Gayle. Power hitters seem to be the big hits of this generation. And this applies to all formats of the game. Even a classical test batsman like Joe Root hits as many as 6-7 sixes in an innings of 150.

Any youngster aspiring to play at the highest level strives for power. He wants to strengthen his body to fire those fast twitch muscle fibres to produce force at great velocity. In physics power is defined as force x velocity. Kazi Junaid Saifi is a 22 year old youngster from Bengal who made his first class debut in 2020 and meticulously programmes his strength training much like other youngsters do to fit into the system. This left handed gifted stroke player was instrumental in Bengal lifting the U-23 national championship back in 2019. Kazi lead from the front and emerged as the second highest run getter in that championship. This southpaw has been a consistent run getter right from the age group tournaments and definitely has it in him to make it big.

Kazi makes a lot of bowlers blink with his clean hitting which is in sharp contrast to his lean and slim built. Ajinkye Rahane, the quintessential test cricketer having a similar built like him is his idol. Kazi defies his frame both in running and lifting. For a boy who weighs a mere 58 kgs he lifts 50 kgs in overhead Olympic lifts with ease. He squats with 70 kgs. The effortless ease with which he lifts the weight shows how good his foundational work is. This leaves a message for any youngster that before jumping into the power training one must master the correct posture and lifting technique to avoid injury and deriving the best out of it. Using lighter weight at the beginner’s level and increasing the load according to one’s body weight are the key points in developing power.

Exercise 1

• Barbell hang clean and jerk
• Technical cue
• Knee on top of the toe
• Flat back
• Barbell pulled up brushing the body
• Good bar speed

Reps and sets

4-6 reps x 4 sets

Exercise 2

• Medicine ball rotational pass & Medicine ball bowler’s slam
• Technical cue
• Imagine the way a batsman steps out and hits the ball or a bowler bowls a ball.

Reps and sets

8=10 reps each side x 4 sets

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